Sabbath In The New Testament

“Does scripture reveal the Seventh day Sabbath in the New Covenant?”

Introduction

Today we find more Christians searching scripture to see if there is a Commandment to keep the Sabbath in the New Testament. But there are also those making the truth harder to find by claiming the Sabbath is not part of the New Covenant or that no such scripture exists. The book of Luke actually has unquestionable proof that the Sabbath is not only commanded in the New Testament but is also definitely part of the New Covenant. One simple and yet very clear verse used in conjunction with other scripture has been overlooked by many.

We also find that Hebrews 4:9 proves that a Sabbath rest remains for the people of God. But as more began to teach this, our adversary once again has attacked this truth by implying this passage speaks of a spiritual rest in Jesus, which also supposedly replaces the Sabbath Commandment. However, the Greek word for “rest” in verse nine is “sabbatismos” and literally means a “Sabbath keeping” or “Sabbath observance,” and hence cannot be a spiritual rest. Close examination of the rest of this passage in Hebrews chapter four also verifies this to be correct.

There are also the proponents who argue the New Testament Church began keeping the Sabbath on Sunday in honour of the resurrection, but not even the Apostles can do this without a clear Commandment from God and yet no such scripture exists.

Acts 20:7 is the most commonly quoted scripture to support this heresy. The scripture does in fact say “the first day of the week” but Bible days ended at sunset and scripture shows this was a Sabbath meeting that ran after sunset, and hence was in fact a Saturday night meeting. The Good News Bible actually translates this verse to “On Saturday evening” rather than the first day of the week for clarity to the reader. Note also that breaking bread is more frequently shown in scripture as being a fellowship meal rather than communion. The context also indicates this was a meal to satisfy hunger as a result of Paul being long winded (Acts 20:11) as he was to depart the next day. Compare 1 Corinthians 11:24 with Matthew 15:36; Acts 2:46 and Acts 27:34-36.

It should also be noted that this meeting did not occur in the Synagogue (Church) and that the Bible in fact shows that all meetings that did occur in the Church were ALL on the Sabbath day and on no other day. This applied to both Jew and Gentile.

In Matthew 24, Jesus without doubt implies that everyone would still be physically keeping the Sabbath when the Jewish temple was destroyed in 70 AD by the Roman armies. This is another overlooked scripture that proves Sabbath keeping in the New Testament.

Here are some other points that lead us to a very important question.

Circumcision was kept in the Old Testament but we are told numerous times by Paul in unmistakable words that circumcision is no longer required and assumptions are not required.

Then there are the ordinances that had meat and drink offerings, holy feast days, new moon festivals and Sabbath days, such as Passover and the Day of Atonement. Paul says these ordinances are now against us and contrary to us and were nailed to the cross. (Colossians 2:14)

This is a grossly misunderstood area of Biblical laws where people confuse the Mosaic Law and the Ten Commandment law. It was the sacrificial law that Jesus replaced by becoming our perfect sacrifice and hence ended this sacrificial system. In any case, we are told many times that these ordinances have ended. Example: (Colossians 2:14-16; Galatians 4:9-10, Hebrews 9:1-28; Ephesians 2:15 etc.)

In fact, everything that no longer applies in the Old Testament is clearly explained in the New Testament as being no longer applicable and why.

There can be no doubt that the Ten Commandments that were given and written by God Himself in such incredible fiery majesty while the people trembled below, are far more important than anything else as this law defines our love for God and man. So then, the very important and very relevant question remains as to where in the New Testament are we clearly told that the Sabbath Commandment has been abolished, or changed to the first day of the week being Sunday?

Please read the following page on the Sabbath in the New Testament for the answers and detailed explanations of the proofs previously mentioned as well as other evidence.